Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

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CollinCountyDems @collincountydems.bsky.social · 2d

This is terrifying!

ICE breaks into this woman’s car in the pick-up line at West Loop Elementary school in Chicago and detains her before she can pick her kids up from school. (They were eventually let go after showing their documents)

This is Trump’s America.

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Victor Ray @victorerikray.bsky.social · 10h

The child-kidnapping secret police would appreciate it if you stopped calling them fascists.

LongTime🤓FirstTime👨‍💻 @longtimehistory.bsky.social · 13h

ICE secretly kidnap autistic boy during bathroom break—never notify parents.

Mother reported him missing a week ago—turns out ICE had him detained the whole time.

He was helping sell fruit and asked to go to the restroom—by the time she was done helping a customer he was gone.

Houston, Texas

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tagerai.bsky.social @tagerai.bsky.social · 11h

Political realignment more along fight or flee, spine or spineless, honor or cowardice these days

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Jed Brown @jedbrown.org · Aug 18

Needless to say, an LLM cannot reliably determine whether a source supports a given claim, just as it cannot determine whether a claim is true. This will automate generation of documents that make false claims, with citations that exist and may, on superficial reading, support those false claims.

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Jed Brown @jedbrown.org · Aug 18

I expect this will be used to "fix" citation issues in LLM slop. The (epistemically fraudulent) citations will be real now, and even if they don't say what's being claimed, it'll often be enough for plausible deniability. This is obviously a win for misinformation.

More sketchy tech from Grammarly:

Hypervisible @hypervisible.blacksky.app · Aug 18

What the actual fucking fuck. www.theverge.com/news/760508/...

One of the most notable tools is the AI grader agent, which Grammarly says can provide feedback based on uploaded course details and “publicly available” information about the instructor. The bot can give tailored writing recommendations and estimate what grade the paper will receive in its current state, helping students make improvements prior to submission.

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The Tennessee Holler @thetnholler.bsky.social · 14h

“YOU hit HER.”

CHICAGO - Trump’s ICE goons ram into a passing car after snatching someone, then brutally drag the female driver of the car they hit out of her car with guns drawn and arrest her too. (Her brother says she’s a citizen)

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Preorder Read This When Things Fall Apart @mskellymhayes.bsky.social · 14h

They're talking about killing leftist activists. They're talking about murdering people organizing in defense of immigrant communities, doing mutual aid work, and protesting their violence. They are talking about murdering people like me and my friends. We must do more than acknowledge it's fascism.

Prem Thakker ツ @premthakker.bsky.social · 3d

My gosh. After the US bombed multiple boats in the middle of the ocean, murdering people on grounds that they were allegedly "carrying drugs," the US Attorney General says "Just like we did with cartels, we're going to take the same approach, President Trump, with Antifa."

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Jaweed Kaleem @jaweedkaleem.bsky.social · 1d

MIT says it will reject the Trump university compact. USC, when we asked today, declined to take any further position on the proposal. @danielnmiller.bsky.social and I report:

www.latimes.com/world-nation...

As USC considers Trump’s offer tying funding to conservative policies, MIT firmly rejects it

MIT is among the first to express forceful views either in favor of or against an agreement the White House billed as providing "multiple positive benefits."

www.latimes.com

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Heba Gowayed هبة جويد @hebagowayed.bsky.social · 1d

The normalization of “public expression” causing arrest on a college campus is really something. People are blaming the Trump administration but this is the central building block of the fascist turn and it precedes Trump — the work of institutions maligned as bastions of woke. If only.

Miriam Posner @miriamposner.com · 1d

Found this just incredibly depressing, more than anything.

An easel sign reads, “UCLA
ATTENTION
No events are permitted in this area today. Per Policy 852, this location is NOT designated for public expression activities.
Individuals participating in an event or a public expression activity in this area are subject to discipline and/or arrest.
Scan for policy information.”

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Miriam Posner @miriamposner.com · 1d

Found this just incredibly depressing, more than anything.

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tagerai.bsky.social @tagerai.bsky.social · 1d

"it can design novel forms of life". I can 'design' a delorean that travels through time, but I'm not getting articles in NYT

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Joe Bak-Coleman @jbakcoleman.bsky.social · 1d

A lot of scientists sense the bullshit production machine happening in the admin and reach for terms like “p-hacking” or arguing they’re doing science wrong. This is remarkably misguided and just pays them the liars dividend. 🧵

Joe Bak-Coleman @jbakcoleman.bsky.social · 1d

I think this is a dangerous framing because all he has to do is preregister a confounded analysis and it crops out as “confirmatory”.

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Chanda Prescod-Weinstein 🌌 @chanda.blacksky.app · 1d

Do you all know how many times Democrats weren’t able to do key resistance things in the House this year because extremely old people dropped dead in office

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Chanda Prescod-Weinstein 🌌 @chanda.blacksky.app · 1d

MIT President Sally Kornbluth just issued a statement to the campus community saying NO to Trump’s authoritarian compact

“And fundamentally, the premise of the document is inconsistent with our core belief that scientific funding should be based on scientific merit alone.”

Dear Madam Secretary,
I write in response to your letter of October 1, inviting MIT to review a "Compact for Academic Excellence in Higher Education." I acknowledge the vital importance of these matters.
I appreciated the chance to meet with you earlier this year to discuss the priorities we share for American higher education.
As we discussed, the Institute's mission of service to the nation directs us to advance knowledge, educate students and bring knowledge to bear on the world's great challenges. We do that in line with a clear set of values, with excellence above all. Some practical examples:
• MIT prides itself on rewarding merit.
Students, faculty and staff succeed here based on the strength of their talent, ideas and hard work. For instance, the Institute
was the first to reinstate the SAT/ACT requirement after the pandemic. And MIT has never had legacy preferences in admissions.

• MIT opens its doors to the most talented students regardless of their family's finances. Admissions are need-blind. Incoming undergraduates whose families earn less than $200,000 a year pay no tuition. Nearly 88% of our last graduating class left MIT with no debt for their education. We make a wealth of free courses and low-cost certificates available
to any American with an internet
connection. Of the undergraduate degrees we award, 94% are in STEM fields. And in service to the nation, we cap enrollment of international undergraduates at roughly
10%.
• We value free expression, as clearly described in the MIT Statement on Freedom of Expression and Academic Freedom. We must hear facts and opinions we don't like - and engage respectfully with those with whom we disagree.

These values and other MIT practices meet or exceed many standards outlined in the document you sent. We freely choose these values because they're right, and we live by them because they support our mission - work of immense value to the prosperity, competitiveness, health and security of the United States. And of course, MIT abides by the law.
The document also includes principles with which we disagree, including those that would restrict freedom of expression and our independence as an institution. And fundamentally, the premise of the document is inconsistent with our core belief that scientific
funding should be based on scientific merit alone.
In our view, America's leadership in science and innovation depends on independent thinking and open competition for excellence. In that tree marketplace of ideas, the people of MIT gladly compete with the very best, without preferences.
Therefore, with respect, we cannot support the proposed approach to addressing the issues facing higher education.

As you know, MIT's record of service to the nation is long and enduring. Eight decades ago, MIT leaders helped invent a scientific partnership between America's research universities and the
U.S. government that has delivered extraordinary benefits for the American people.
We continue to believe in the power of this partnership to serve the nation.
Sincerely,
Sally Kornbluth
CC
Ms. May Mailman
Mr. Vincent Haley

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Nancy Kanwisher @nancykanwisher.bsky.social · 1d

MIT Rejects the Compact!
I am so proud.
"The document also includes principles with which we disagree, including those that would restrict freedom of expression and our independence as an institution. And fundamentally, the premise of the document is inconsistent with our core belief ...

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Josh Moody @byjoshmoody.bsky.social · 1d

MIT rejects "compact" proposed by the Trump administration.
MIT prez wrote: it "would restrict freedom of expression and our independence as an institution" and "is inconsistent with our core belief that scientific funding should be based on scientific merit alone."
orgchart.mit.edu/letters/rega...

Regarding the Compact | MIT Organization Chart

orgchart.mit.edu

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Charmaine Chua @charmainechua.bsky.social · 2d

The Berkeley Faculty Association is currently running an event featuring about the UC’s release of 160 names of faculty, staff and students to the Trump administration’s OCR. Three lawyers - Catherine E. Lhamon, Brian Soucek, and Asli Bali will speak. I’ll be live-tweeting key moments.

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Emissary Of Night | ليلى @diplomatofnight.com · 2d

Netanyahu's mouthpiece, Amit Segal, casually admits on Twitter that his country has been holding 1,700 people from Gaza hostage, including children.

Among other things, according to the decision:

- 250 security prisoners will be released.
- 1,700 residents of the Gaza Strip who were not involved in the events of October 7 and were arrested after the massacre will be released.
- 22 minors under the age of 18, residents of the Gaza Strip who were not involved in the events of October 7 and were arrested after the massacre, will be released.
- 360 bodies of terrorists will be returned.

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Sam Adams @samadams.bsky.social · 2d

the suggestion of playing “hot or not” with Palestinian statehood is so breathtakingly offensive I don’t even know where to start

aaron from queens from twitter @aaronnarraph.bsky.social · 2d

the background on zohran's colbert appearance is jaw-droppingly disgusting

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aaron from queens from twitter @aaronnarraph.bsky.social · 2d

the background on zohran's colbert appearance is jaw-droppingly disgusting

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Aparna Nair @disabilitystor1.bsky.social · 3d

It will also disconnect students from each other—and in a world fractured by various flavors of technofascism, I cannot think of a more disastrous thing (which is likely partly why AI fetishists are pushing for AI in schools and universities)

Hypervisible @hypervisible.blacksky.app · 3d

“One of the negative consequences AI is having on students is that it is hurting their ability to develop meaningful relationships with teachers, the report finds. Half of the students agree that using AI in class makes them feel less connected to their teachers.”

Rising Use of AI in Schools Comes With Big Downsides for Students

A report by the Center for Democracy and Technology looks at teachers' and students' experiences with the technology.

www.edweek.org

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AAUP @aaup.org · 3d

“If we aren't free to pursue research and teaching based on wherever the knowledge leads us, we are not truly working in the service of the public.”

— Rana Jaleel, associate professor at UC Davis & Chair of the AAUP’s Committee A on Academic Freedom & Tenure

How Academic Freedom in Universities Generates the Greatest Value for Society

Academic freedom is at the foundation of one of the most powerful and fundamental ideas about universities. Learn about how academic freedom has contributed to broad benefits in society and UC Davis f...

lettersandsciencemag.ucdavis.edu

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Victor Ray @victorerikray.bsky.social · 3d

i still find it darkly funny that a couple leading intellectuals argued for the better part of a decade that this movement couldn’t be considered fascism.

Meanwhile the movement’s leading “thinkers” have quoting fascists and saying stuff like this entire time.

Matt Novak @paleofuture.bsky.social · 3d

"Antifa has been around in various iterations for almost 100 years in some instances, going back to the Weimar Republic in Germany."

- Jack Posobiec at Trump's roundtable on antifa

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Lisa Fazio @lkfazio.bsky.social · 4d

New from me and @brendannyhan.bsky.social

Why Trump's "Compact for Academic Excellence" is a devil's bargain and should be rejected in all forms

www.msnbc.com/opinion/msnb...

Trump sent a 'compact' to our universities. They should reject this devil's bargain.

Any institution that yields to these broad and intrusive demands would forever be subservient to the whims of the government.

www.msnbc.com

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Alondra Nelson @alondra.bsky.social · 3d

"It is not hyperbole to say that the future of higher education in America requires that every university reject it. If any schools capitulate, the pressure will be enormous on all to fold. The only solution is solidarity and collective action against this effort at federal control over higher" ed.

Philip N Cohen @philipncohen.com · 7d

Chemerinsky: The Trump extortion demands are unconstitutional as well as odious (gift link). Me: Any school that signs must be shunned, faculty affected must walk. No room for this.

Opinion | Trump’s ‘Compact’ With Universities Is Just Extortion

www.nytimes.com

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